Dartmouth’s Cave to fight for NABA belt

Boxer Tyson Cave will look to add to his collection of title belts with a bout on April 20 at at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax.

Halifax’s Cave will take on Argentina’s Jose Saez for the North American Boxing Association’s vacant super bantamweight title. The winner will be ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Association, which is affiliated with the NABA.

Cave, 31, is 19-2 and has won four in a row. He last fought in December, winning a six-round decision over Rodolpho Ortiz in a non-title bout in Mexico.

Prior to that, Cave defended his Canadian title belt over Halifax’s Steve Cannell. He also owns the WBC Continental Americas championship and the Canadian-American-Mexican (CAM) title.

Saez, 37, is a veteran of 42 fights. He is 22-14-6 and has four losses and a draw in his last seven outings.

Cave was due to fight on a card in Massachusetts in mid-March, but no opponent could be found.

“I’m hoping to get ranked in the top 15 in the world and, hopefully, get a world title shot by the end of the year,” he said Wednesday.

He was disappointed to lose the chance to fight in New England, “but I’m a Nova Scotia boy, so I’m always happy to fight in my hometown in front of my fans and my family.”

Saez has fought for a number of titles, most notably the IBF International featherweight championship and the WBO Inter-Continental title. He went eight rounds in Ontario with Canadian Steve Molitor in 2009, losing a decision.

Should Cave beat Saez, he would be in line to defend the new title against Mexico’s Manuel Roman (15-2-3). That bout, tentatively planned for Halifax in mid-June, would have top-10 implications.

Dartmouth’s Kyle McNeil will be featured on the undercard. He’ll take a 5-0 record into action against American journeyman Robert DaLuz (14-43-3).